'''Apocrypha''' may have different meanings depending on how it is applied to the Old or New Testaments and whether it is being used by Catholics, Protestants or Orthodox Christians.{{Orthodoxize}} For the most part, the term ''apocrypha'' refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the [[Biblical canon|canon]]. Since most English language bibles are from non-Orthodox sources, they sometimes are subtitled ''with Apocrypha'' meaning that it includes the Old Testament, so called ''Deuterocanonical Books'' that in the Orthodox Church are considered to be genuine parts of the Bible.  Since mostly all of Christianity accept the same 27 books of the [[New Testament]], the term ''apocrypha'' is used for both [[#Apocryphal|''apocryphal'']] books, and [[#Pseudoepigrapha|''pseudoepigrapha'']] books.   

The '''Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical Books''' are books of the [[Old Testament]] that are accepted by the Orthodox Christian Church but are not accepted by Protestantsas part of its official canonical contents, but of close association with the Bible.

The word Deuterocanonical comes from the Greek words ''Deutero'' and ''canona'' meaning "second [[Canon (Bible)|canon]]." The word ''apocrypha'' comes from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφα, meaning "hidden." According to Orthodox teaching they may be read for personal edification but are not authoritative for [[doctrine]]. They are included in the Orthodox [[Bible]] because they were included in the [[Septuagint]] which was in use at the time of [[Jesus]], and the authors of the New Testament. They are not called ''apocrypha'' by the Orthodox Church.

===The Books of the so called Apocrypha===

In an Orthodox Bible which has the ===True Old Testament Apocrypha there ===There are 49 examples of false books in its from the Old Testament. [[Roman Catholic]]s only accept seven Deuterocanonical , there booksare: Assumption of Moses, Ascension of Isaiah, Apocalypse of Elijah, Book of Enoch, so their Old Testament has a total of 46 the Twelve Patriarchs, and another Book of Maccabees. These books. [[Protestant]]s do are not accept in the Apocrypha so in their Old Testament they only have 39 books. All 3 accept the same 27 books canon of the [[New Testament]]any church.

===Apocryphal===Books of the apostolic times that were not included in the [[scripture|canon of scripture]], but may have reputed apostolic or prophetic authorship, are also called Apocrypha'''Apocryphal'''. These writings of the early Christian church give accounts of the teachings of Jesus, aspects of the life of Jesus, accounts of the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with those books which are regarded as [[canonical]]. According to Orthodox teaching they may be read for personal edification but are not authoritative for [[doctrine]].===Pseudoepigrapha===At the turn from the first century, many false writings about Christ were produced. These were the so-called apocryphal writings (not to be confused with the Old Testament apocrypha), also called '''pseudoepigrapha'''. These false writings carried the names of the apostles and introduced into Christian circles many fanciful and legendary stories about the childhood of Christ, the life of the Virgin Mary and the activities of the apostles.

At the turn from the first century, many false writings about Christ were produced. These were the so-called apocryphal writings (not to be confused with the Old Testament apocrypha), also called ''pseudoepigrapha''. These false writings carried the names of the apostles and introduced into Christian circles many fanciful and legendary stories about the childhood of Christ, the life of the Virgin Mary and the activities of the apostles. With the pseudoepigrapha, there also appeared the false teachings of [[gnosticism]], the Christian [[heresy ]] which transformed Christianity into a kind of spiritualistic, dualistic, intellectualistic philosophy. The Christians of the Orthodox faith had to contend with these false teachings.

*[http://www.oca.org/OCIndex-TOC.asp?SID=2&book=Bible&section=The%20Bible The Orthodox Faith] [[el:Απόκρυφα]] [[ro:Cărţile deuterocanonice/apocrifeApocrife]]